The Next One will be the Big One

I don’t see how anyone could say the financial system is stable. The facts say it is anything but well-balanced and steady. The Western world is in crisis with Europe leading the way over the financial cliff. Pick a country in the EU. France, Greece, Spain or Italy are all capable of causing the next financial panic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard or read the word “collapse” in reporting on this spiraling financial crisis. On Monday, German media giant Der Spiegel ran a headline that read “Investors Prepare for Euro Collapse.” The story said, “Banks, companies and investors are preparing themselves for a collapse of the euro. Cross-border bank lending is falling, asset managers are shunning Europe and money is flowing into German real estate and bonds. The euro remains stable against the dollar because America has debt problems too. But unlike the euro, the dollar’s structure isn’t in doubt.” (Click here for the complete Der Spiegel post.)If the Euro goes down, the dollar will follow probably after a short spike. This is just one of many recent examples of the fragility of the financial system.

There is too much debt and not enough growth or taxes to service it. It’s the same problem almost everywhere on the planet. Governments are just printing money to try and make the problem go away. Egon von Greyerz, founder of Matterhorn Asset Management ($5 billion in assets), said this week, “This is why money printing is guaranteed in Europe, the US, UK and Japan. History teaches us that a nation which runs large deficits and increasing debts could never create wealth in the long-run. Wealth has never been created by printing money, and this time, like it has before, it will lead to a financial crash. This time the financial crash will be of a worldwide magnitude.”(Click here to read and hear the complete interview from King World News aka KWN.)

Nigel Farage, outspoken Member European Parliament, also fears another approaching calamity. Just last week, he said, “It isn’t the euro that scares me anymore. What scares me is the sheer level of indebtedness, and the fact that so many of our banks in the Western world are just in such serious trouble that we could face a situation where even if governments wanted to bail them out, the problem may become bigger than them. So I do not discount, at some point, a really dramatic banking collapse.” (For the complete KWN interview click here.)

The next collapse will make the 2008 meltdown look like a day at the beach. According to Professor William Black, it looks like a mathematical certainty. Black is a former top bank regulator who helped unwind the Savings and Loan scandal. He is also a professor of both law and economics and studies why we have “reoccurring and intensifying financial crises.” In an interview this week, he told me, “. . . each crisis is becoming bigger by an order of magnitude. The savings and loan debacle was $150 billion roughly. The Enron era frauds and collapse of the high tech boom was six to seven trillion dollars. Just the household sector (in the 2007-2008 meltdown) lost $11 trillion dollars.” (Click here for the complete Professor Black interview.)If you add in $700 billion of TARP, more than $800 billion in stimulus, zero percent interest rates through 2014, FDIC deposit insurance for investment banks, the implicit guarantee of the “too big to fail” banks by taxpayers and the $16.1 trillion pumped out by the Fed to bailout the world–you have one colossal crisis. The next calamity will get bigger than the last by an “order of magnitude” because bankers, according to Professor Black, “can commit these frauds with impunity.” (Black is referring to liar loans, security fraud of bundling those loans, ratings fraud, and the forgery and perjury of foreclosure fraud and many others.)

It is mostly the fault of greedy bankers who bought off corrupt politicians that allowed all the debt and bailouts to explode. You would think the politicians would make the stability of the financial system a top priority. After all, it is the cornerstone of retaining power. Look at Libya’s Gadhafi. You may not like him, but there was a reason he stayed in power for 40 years. He couldn’t have done it without a stable financial system. (He was also was sitting on 144 tons of gold. That’s a lot of security, especially for a country the size of Libya.) So, whether you are a dictator or a democracy, you want a rock solid system with zero chance of collapse.

Professor Black says, “We are rolling the dice every day to have the disaster.” In short, the next one will be the big one, and it can happen at any time without warning.

About the Author

Greg Hunter

Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.

Comments

Jeff C08/15/2012 •

Good article, thanks Greg. You are right to say that the stability of Government ( whatever form it takes, i.e. Dictatorship, Democracy, Republic) comes from having a stable, sound economy – and – I might add, a stable currency.

Speaking of stable currencies – what happened to that 144 tons of Gold Gadhafi had stashed away? Hmm.

Greg has just stated what intelligent people have been saying for 3 years. There will be absolutely NO excuses when it actually happens. People have been frozen with indecision because of the world-wide battle of right vs. left and the lack of THE ART OF COMPROMISE. When you forget there is an ART to politics, you are doomed. Welcome to BREAD & CIRCUSES.

“There is too much debt and not enough growth or taxes to service it.”

I’m not sure we will make it thru 2013 in one piece. These are interesting times my friend.

One question though. I read somewhere recentlty that the 100 year Fed charter runs out at the end of 2013. What do you think the chances are for it’s charter to be revoked, especially if there is another wave of collapse…and we go back to the gold standard and the government takes control of money?? (as it’s says in the Constitution)

There’s a revolving door between Wall Street and government. John Corzine worked for Goldman Sachs, was governor of New Jersey, and stole money from investors at MF Global. He’ll never see jail time because he’s a big bundler for Obama.

Look at Libya’s Gadhafi. You may not like him, but there was a reason he stayed in power for 40 years. He couldn’t have done it without a stable financial system.

I’m afraid that’s not correct Greg. The dictator in my country stayed in power for 24 years and the financial system was not stable (this is true for all dictators across sub-sharan Africa); Sadam Hussein was in power for 30 years even with a bad financial system.

Dictators stay in power by using extreme violence and fear (it’s the only thing they have. Economics for them means stealing and enriching themselves, nothing more)

“In short, the next one will be the BIG ONE, and it can happen at any time without warning.” Uh, I believe we’ve been warned over and over again regarding the collapse. Too many, including and especially those in power, are either in “NORMALCY BIAS,” or they are part of the plan.

I’m actually the opposite. Half the time I read an articles about imminent collapse of the economy I picture a guy in a tin foil hat and wonder if his facts are accurate, but I immediately assigned more weight to this one based on the picture. I actually realized as I was reading the second paragraph that I was giving the statements more weight, and noted to myself that was kind of silly of me, but then I read your post and thought, well, it is still kind of silly of me. I’m human though and judge books by their covers all day long.

On one mainstream media financial program earlier this week one financial asset manager reported that durng July [2012] some 410 billions of capital exited the Eurozone to Austria, Switzerland, the USA and elsewhere. He alerted viewers to keep their eye on the outflow of capital from any country or region. He believed the large amount exiting the Eurozone will lead to something quite nasty just around the corner. Capital outflows always precede some sort of financial crisis. Thank you.

I cant’ seem to figure out the difference between a politican, banker, bank regulator, meat inspector, congressional representative, president of the U.S., senator, TSA agent, oil company CEO, town mayor, newspaper publisher….

Please don’t worry too much about the financial collapse.
Something else will come along to make all of that look like a Sunday picnic in the park.
And don’t worry about those assigned to protect and defend us,they know what they’re doing,what pornographic web sites offer the best views when not napping or following the example of the GSA.

I guess what makes this current situation so sad is that when the crumbling legs of this huge economy finally give way the collapse will probably go down in history as THE most expected disaster ever…….

………..and yet hardly anyone has made even some basic preparations for what is so long and so obvious in coming.

It is for this reason the results of this collapse will be utterly shocking to anyone who is not on a first name basis with the conditions and the ethics of raw survival on display in the third world.

== Help Is NOT on the Way (Unless You Consider the Emerging Police State Amerika to Be our Savior) ==

Seen from orbiting-satellite level, Planet Earth’s population probably appears teeming with ostriches, their heads buried deep inside mounds of quicksand, their minds and hearts corroded by apathy and arrogance.

As we await the inevitable 9.9 financial earthquake, these hapless ostriches are rotting in place; would that their corpses fertilize the ground well enough to bring us a new crop of humanity determined not to repeat history. — Larry W. Bryant (15 Aug 12)

Well Greg, when more & more people say the word “collapse” with the thought that it may well be possible it could become a self fulfilling prophesy and or reality. Funny how those type of things can happen. I can’t prove it, because its not provable, but I’ve see such things in the past happen; its kind of a collective thought consciousness and or herding mentality of humans. Having touched upon the metaphysical side of the issue the mathematical probability can’t be denied as hocus pocus. As you said Greg, wealth is not created by money printing and neither is wealth created by debt, which appears to be our present economic system. Collapse is certainly possible but a malaise type contracting GDP economy is more likely.

One of the best articles you have ever done in my mind and there has been many.

The whole financial system is much worse of now than 4 years ago. It feels like it is about time that the world wakes up and realizes that you can’t repair what’s unrepairable. Unfortunately history tells us everything needs to go before something better can take its place.

Greg
People are putting their faith in the fact that we always bounce back. The problem is we never bounced back from the last one and now the fall is farther and includes the rest of the world. True it will be bad with the next hit, but the next hit could come from any where. Natural calamity from earthquake, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes could easily tip the iceberg to foll over. The next terrorist attack will probably be enough to push us over as well. truth is, when we live life so closely to tragedy, anything can and will set it off. The average american family knows what I’m talking about because so many are living from paycheck to paycheck. Money is frozen for fear of job loss so investment is nil. Everyone is waiting for the next shoe to fall and there is not a dimes worth of honesty coming from the media so that people can have any idea how close we are to ruin. I know I sound like a harbinger of doom, but I am a realist and I can only say what I know to be the truth according to what I see and from listening to the stories of real people living real lives. It doesn’t look good from any prospective and sugar coaling it may help it go down, but bile is bile and when it erupts, it will be both messy and ugly. Keep up the great reporting and we’ll keep spreading the truth.

Greg,
First off, I want to commend you on another great article. It is readily apparent from the many experts interviewed on this site generally agree that a financial collapse is inevitable. This is across the board from all the experts. They may or may not agree on a specific timeline, but the fact that they all agree that a collapse is emminent.

From a layman’s perspective, I do feel that there is vested interest for the system to continue to print money. There is such an inter-dependence between countries that a collapse in part of the world will quickly snowball to other areas.

With that being said, I have no idea how we can escape this unscathed nor do I have any proper plan on how to minimize the effects. What I do know, is that when a financial collapse does happen, it is not going to be pretty. (as an aside, I watched a 10 part documentary on the fairly recent Argentina financial collapse (2001). This literally put one of the few 1st world South American countries back into 3rd world status and the country as a whole is barely scratching its way back into prominence. While the circumstances are not quite what is happening now, Argentina’d troubles give me pause as to what we could expect)

For now, the MSM will not report or even touch on the true unemployment figures or the elaborate on why the financial system is the way it is. Sites like your are invaluable for us to navigate these waters.

Three excellent comments from three astute men. The controllers and money changers believe they can manage a glide path to destruction. But, if they had ever flown a plane, they would know that once you reach the height and encounter stall speed, the plane only goes down. Unless instantly corrected, the plane gains speed with every second of the fall. After sufficient time, the acceleration of the fall becomes too great to stop. There is no glide path. A crash is certain.

Look out for world war 3 to erupt as the economies of the world fail.
These times we live in are the end times spoken of in the Bible. If you are not saved by Jesus soon you will be partaking in the world economy of the beast (Satan). The mark of the beast that is. You will not be able to buy or sell without taking the mark of the beast Period!
ANYONE that takes the mark of the beast will get a one way ticket to hell! If you come to Jesus now, you will be saved and taken out of the world before all hell breaks loose upon the earth… literaly. Those of you who are atheist will see the truth first hand when this comes to fruition. You will be left behind in a planet filled with demons and horror that makes your horror movies look like a cartoon. The end is upon us all. 1948 is the key to why now. When Israel became a nation
again after almost 2000 years. It is easy to look it up online in an online Bible. Just do a search and see for yourself.

Greg, its time for those awake to the approaching calamity to prepare and consider how they will “barter” during a bank breakdown. Up here in Vancouver we have launched a ‘platform’ that allows hard-money investors to mobilize and engage with their silver and gold, receiving purchasing power and privacy. Our private tender, called a “sovereign,” is 100% secured by physical bullion, which guards value and protects purchasing power for our ‘members’ ie dentists, florists, mechanics, resorts etc. The company is called The Sovereign Exchange. I’ve been operating private credit-clearing systems or trade/barter platforms since 1994 and would be happy to share our business model or discuss the merits of operating a private commercial trade/barter exchange. Cheers

Good, albeit scarey article – Thanks for that. Its funny to observe how often we put the blinkers on when we observe some dreadful impeding disaster and simply ignore the implications. If the financial system collapses, our society will collapse too won’t it? I mean who is going to pay the transport companies to keep food on the shelves?

So with this in mind, have you got any pointers for us what you have been doing personally to prepare for what I guess will come in the next year or three?

Since the Bush family got us into this mess, I’m assuming they prepared themselves years ago when they put this whole plan into action. I stay away from politics ’cause there is nothing honest about it but in my opinion, “O” is just a front line soldier. I can’t imagine taking over the Presidency of a country that claimed to be a world leader and try to fix the global damage it caused, damage that was executed by my predecessors. imo
A war(s) is usually followed by a strengthening economy. Well we had the wars so why are we still in this sad state?
Seriously, why can’t we (countries) just all get along? Stop with the money, power and greed! If your land grows wheat but my land has expensive oil, then what good is my oil if my kids are starving? Let’s just trade off since both are valuable to each others survival. The only people who can fix this corruption are the ones who caused it; our country leaders….men we voted for to help us prosper.
In the old days, if a woman had a baby but did not have breastmilk to feed her baby, then a neighboring woman would feed the baby for her. Unselfish acts that resulted in those babies growing up, having their own babies and growing the town to a city then a state and a country. How can we gloat when our power, money and greed serve only to starve each other? What are we so proud of? There is power in numbers and we (all citizens in the world) have the numbers so why aren’t we using it to our advantage. Stop speaking against each other and start speaking WITH each other. Stop killing each other and start helping each other. Stop the wars ’cause the only ones who survive it are the ones who declare it. Would an Iranian mother and an American mother agree to put their child in a playpen to fight and watch until one of them have killed the other? Then why are we doing it? I’m going to raise some eyebrows now by saying “hmm, maybe we should allow women to rule the world”.
An earlier post was right. The ultimate war is ‘good’ vs ‘evil’. Stop being at their (evil) mercy by allowing your thoughts to be manipulated with anger and hatred. Start thinking on your own and only then will things be right. (good)
Like Neil, I too am anxious to hear Greg’s advice on how we prepare ourselves or if we even can.

Marcal,
Prepare like you would for a hurricane but this crisis would go on for a long time. Buy things you eat use and spend like money. The can kicking has been a opportunity for more time to prepare. Thank you for your comment.
Greg

Let’s take a peek @ some human reality first & discover that, in the gospel, Jesus commands US in St. Matthew 5:37….”But let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these comes from evil.” Looking at this statement by OUR Lord even if only from a scientifuc review gives rein to the thought that, due to our human nervous systems, we can not act out both simultaneously can we? We can’t use our human nervous system guided by our thinking to say to OUR bodies that we will mow the lawn while at the same time refusing to do so can we? We either will committ OUR nervous system and body to mowing the lawn or refrain from mowing the lawn but we can’t do exactly both at the same time can we? The Sadusees who didn’t beleive in the human event called the resurrection had given their entire human nervous system guided by their hypnotic system of beliefs entrely to the darkness of convincing all other people that when you die you’re dead and that’s the end of you; while Jesus, by his death and resulting resurrection had given His thinking and His complete nervous system over entirely to the resurrection He knew He would demonstarate but His disciples NEVER caught on to His beliefs; that is until they saw Him risen from the Tomb of Lasarus did they? All through life we each make decisions of either yes or no, regards what we want to committ ourselves to believe don’t we? Will we be a Democrate, a Republican, a Libertarian, a Constittonalist or to what shall we give OUR nervous system’s allegance? Jesus operated though a one track mind/nervous system, as far as human committments & communications are cncerned and He referred to this as “Know the TRUTH & the TRUTH will set you FREE”, as pronounced in St. John 8:32. He knew that only TRUTH is the magic that works the correct thereapies on our nervous systems including our minds that were created by Mother Nature/Father God to digest TRUTH as their centers of concentration towards the absolute problematic resolutons we all face in this life. The battles for TRUTH have been being fought it seems forever but, as He has told US, He is the Way, the Truth & the Life & that truth in living it is what our nervious systems all seek, in order to live OUR lives in His PEACE. Will the US or Israel bomb Iran? Do we like that yes or no question playing its’ many torrid ramifications upon OUR minds and/or nervous systems? The absolute TRUTH is that if His quest to make disciples of all Nations were the only theme plying upon OUR minds/nevous systems, His PEACE would be OUR Universal therapy which is what He did to procure upon the Cross at Calvery but it takes OUR co-operation which seems hard to obtain until OUR nervous systems cry uncle under continuing adverse condtions? My question is will we end up lining up to live as those whom Jesus tried to console with the TRUTH in St. John 7:13 which sates: Howbeit no man spake openly of Him, for fear of the Jews. Or maybe we can take the psychological road of the coward, as found in St. John 11:45 – 48…Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and having ssen the things that Jesus did, believed on Him. (46): But some of them went their way to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. (47): Then gathered together the chief priests and the Pharisees a council and said, What are we going to do? for this man doeth many miricles. (48): And if we leave Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and Nation. Here we have the religious leaders subjecting both their nervous systems and their thinking into the yes camp regards Jesus becoming a threat to their system of rule instead of offering all men everywhere for all time and place His PEACE? This meant they choose to inslave both their minds and their nervous systems to groundless fears which the love that Jesus preached is designed to cast aside. Thus inslaved by their own hynotic beliefs and seeing Jesus as a threat they got together to plan His crucifixion, in order to save their outer views on wealth; instead of securing the wealth of their own PEACE which would been thereaputic to their own minds, spirits & nervous systems which they ended up calculating were less worthy and less prominent regards their overall welfare. How tragic that was and still is today!! Jesus has told US exactly how to know we are being rescured in terms of OUR mutual nervous systems and mental states, when He proclaimed to Us in St. John 15:11….”These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remfain in you, and that your joy might be full.” Yes!, Jesus is telling US all that we know when our minds and our nervous systems are in receipt of His prescriptions for PEACE, when He fills our lives full of His kind of “love”, “peace” and “joy”. There is no other thereaputic preseciptions for PEACE anyone anywhere can activate in behalf of our human nervous systems and/or human psyces than love, peace & joy which can not be obtained from any of our local pharmacies. These He tells us are obtainable in Malachi 3:10…”Bring all the tithes into the storehous, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessig, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Furthrmore in St. John 16:24…”Hereto have you asked nothing in my name: ask and you will receive, that your “JOY” shall be full” The banks of heaven, unlike our humanized banks, are overloaded always with these gifts He desires with a heavenly deisre to give to each of US, if we will ony ask Him. What would you or I give to OUR children, if they would only ask us to give them their hearts’ desires? If we desire to give good gifts to OUR children, think of how much more He wants to give to US His children, that both our minds & OUR nervous systems may receive His theraputic remedies of love, peace and joy out of the storehouse of heaven waiting for US to ask Him for them? He is willing & ready, because He says “yes” to our needs whenever we ask Him in His name and he says “NO” to every evil that assails OUR human frailties & that’s why, in His Lords Prayer we ask only Him to deliver US from evils. He is forever willing to deliver US but are WE willing to have Him delivr US? In a sense He’s already delivered us economically, as found in Acts 2 but that I leave for you to look up and read to yourseves.

Danny,
Many market traders I talked to say the dollar will be the last currency to fall. It is hard to park billions of dollars anywhere in the world. If the Euro goes down, folks holding currency will probably run into the Treasury market according to many traders and market managers I talk with. This, of course, is a dollar instrument. This is where the spike comes from. Someone holding a billion dollars can’t just park it in a savings account with $250,000 in FDIC insurance. Treasuries have the full faith a credit backing, but the U.S. government does not guarantee the buying power of the U.S. dollars you loan them. The spike will be short lived after that all that’s left is gold, silver, platinum, farm land, artwork, productive assets like energy and factories that make something necessary for sustaining life. There will be another currency but this is where you park until the smoke clears and there is going to be a lot of smoke. I hope this answers you question.
Greg

Specifically, though, in the past economies have collapsed because people will take their money, convert it to another medium and sell the local currency – in effect creating a selloff in the currency.
Presently, however, where will Mr. Soros, for instance, take his funds? The EURO? The Renmibi? The Yen? All have significant issues and all are worse bets than the US Dollar.

No options for megabuck holders other than the US Dollar. I don’t foresee any major issues or crashes for US anytime soon. Just not gonna happen under the present circumstances.

I beg to differ that the cause was really not “mostly the fault of greedy bankers who bought off corrupt politicians that allowed all the debt and bailouts to explode” but primarily due to financial industry players supporting free market true believers in their run for office. These politicians were not necessarily corrupt but really thought that the free market would regulate itself. They were wrong.

Of course the system is corrupt. Due to money in our political system, campaign contributions, jobs given after “service”, compensation for using connections developed during “service”, insider information, seats on corporate boards, etc, the wealthy and business interests are able to control the policy making process that resulted in the deregulation of the financial industry that created this financial crisis.

If you want to fix this system I feel the following changes are necessary:

a) publicly fund elections exclusively,
(b) make it illegal for politicians and their staff to accept jobs in businesses that they affected (one revolving door),
(c) implement term limits,
(d) make it illegal for pols, their staff, family, and all civil servants to ever lobby for any compensation (the other revolving door),
(e) tax not working (capital gains, etc) at the same rate as working,
(f) make it illegal for politicians, their staff, their family, and all civil servants to use insider information for profit, and
(g) Repeal the benefits for elected officials and make them deal with life as we do and end early retirement and double-dipping for all civil servants.

While there is a right to free speech, there is no right to privately fund a campaign nor for a politician to receive private funding. So, while a person, or corporation may be able to spend unlimited amounts of money to express their political views we can ensure that civil servants cannot ever legally materially benefit from support.

Let every american pay $1 DAY minimum mandatory, more if possible to help defecit .
Cut down or have a control on the suing of medical mistakes to certain extend.
Reduce medicare,obamacare,social security by 5% a year.
Cut down healthcare expenses.
Allow more imgrants doctors nurses and other medically qualified people who can charge less.

These are surface issues; go deeper and you will find the roots. Our government uses the same leadership your comment implies. If you want to solve a problem start at the roots. Sadly, at this point in the game many will suffer and die to go back and start over.

These hospitals also provide routine care needed by your pet,
such as routine vaccination to prevent infectious diseases, treatment for internal and external parasite.
I hope you enjoyed this little journey into the world of Protein.
In fact, when it comes to pets’ health, choosing the right veterinarian should be your top priority.

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Greg is the producer and creator of Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin.

USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.